Dear Blog Friends

I want you all to know how each of you has touched my heart, through your comments and your blogs. I am sorry that I have not been in blog world much these past days.  Tonight I did more catching up with some of you.  My heart goes out to you dear friends and my prayers heaven-ward.  Sending out hugs to all.  Becky <3

Snow & Ice

Well, I decided to visit some of my bloggy friends tonight.  My friend Outdoor Mom at Yaak Adventures was talking about the tremendous load of snow and ice she has been dealing with in Montana.  That got me thinking about the last couple of snows we had here in Colorado.  I have sort of been in a blogging funk.  I have been entirely wrapped up in house hunting among other things.  Still wonderful and interesting things have been going on that I have not even shared.  So here I go with pictures of our snows.

My friend Kerrie at Sea Cottage likes to take pictures of her feet at the beach.  I thought of Kerrie when I took this picture of my feet in the snow.

Here is my youngest son, Brandon, shoveling the back deck.

Here is Mark brushing the snow off his truck.  The road was so icy, even after the snowplow had gone by, that he had to back the truck down the hill to a more level spot and turn around.  We finally got traction and were able to move forward.

This is my oldest son, Eric, throwing down salt to melt the ice on the driveway.  I couldn't get my car out of the garage because of all the ice.

This is the mesa covered in snow.  I am so blessed to live in such beauty.

A winter wonderland of snow.  All the colors of winter...white, blue, evergreen and brown.

A winter morning sunrise.

A winter sunset.

Offer was a "no go"...

We made an offer on a house, but we were beat out by a full cash offer near the asking price.  It took us a couple of hours to get the whole deal together and it took under an hour for us to find out that we did not get the house.  The Lord shut the door and we were fine with it.  Okay, I was a little bummed, but I realize that the Lord has some place else for us in mind.  I am really glad that it was over in a few hours rather than days.  What a blessing that was!  Anyway, we are back to searching.  There is no big hurry, but sometimes after so much looking I want it over and done with.

The New Year - Longing, Awe & Thankfulness

Well, our new year has started out with change.  It seems that our family has become very sensitive to change since moving from California to Colorado.  As the saying goes "One thing we can count on in our lives is CHANGE."  Okay, so what change have we experienced lately?  Well, both boys are going to a new high school this semester.  Right now it is a bit of a challenge working out a schedule.  Even though the boys are going to the same high school they don't go at the same time.  Drop off times and pick up times are different.  We decided on this new high school because the regular public high school was just not working for either boy.  This new high school has more structure, a closed campus and so far seems to be a perfect fit for their ADHD issues.  We are blessed that they were both accepted.

You may ask, what other change has come about?  Well, nothing yet.  We are still on the prowl for a house to buy.  Our landlord is kind, but can be neglectful in some respects.  We really would like to have our own place, so we keep looking.  However, I must admit that sometimes I don't even know why we are looking, because right now the market is slow.  However, we are considering a house that we found recently.  The boys went with us to look at the house and they love it.  We also looked at two other homes the same day and the boys did not like either of those houses.  The boys really want us to buy this house, but Mark and I are dragging our feet.  One reason is that the house is near a highway (but remarkably the noise from it is very low) and the other reason is that it makes living here in Colorado a more permanent deal.

Yes, all of us still miss California, but then too, the Lord has opened up so many wonderful opportunities for us here, ones that would not be available to us in California.  I do not quite know how to word what I am thinking in my head.  I am thinking about life and all the opportunities that come our way.  How do those opportunities wind up in our lap?  I choose to see it as God's hand.  The Lord chose for me to come to Colorado to live where I am living and meet the people I have met.  I knew nothing of what I now know. He led me here, He chose certain people to bless our family and each of us individually.  When you start thinking about it, well it is just plain awesome!

As I try to wrap up this post, I am thinking of all of my readers.  Some of you are regulars here and I am so thankful for the blessing that you have been to me.  Kind words are like honey, they bring sweetness and health.  Your kind comments have done that for me.  What a blessing each of you have been.  Remember after the Lord's resurrection he spoke to Peter and asked him if he loved him?  Peter responded that he did love Him.  Jesus responded "Feed my sheep."  Showing our Lord that we love Him means that we in turn love others.  I am so grateful that you love Him.

Sick, But Happy

I enjoyed our new year's eve. Our family was invited to a party held by my friend Cindy.  We had a wonderful time ringing in the new year with Cindy, her hubby Milton and their family.  The next morning I very much enjoyed watching the Rose Parade in California.  It made me long for green California, especially with the cold and snow we got here in Colorado. On Sunday night after new years I came down with a sore throat and from there it has been downhill.  Sneezing, sniffling, coughing, lots of herb tea and rest for me.  Even so I took a couple pictures of the big excitement at our house.  Eric ordered a Sector Nine California Skateboard.  It came on Monday and we had one excited boy on our hands.  Even though he is sick with the same nasty cold I have, he was up and about when the UPS man came with his board.  Here are a few pictures.

Here is Eric with his awesome board.  He can't wait to ride it.

Daisy thought the board was pretty cool so she hopped on.

Snow!

Finally some substantial snowfall has arrived.  It began slowly around 8 a.m. and by 10 a.m. it was sticking and everything was blanketed with white.  Mark and I ventured out to do some shopping and then Mark took me out to lunch.  The boys called us to let us know that we were not going to be able to make it up the hill.  They were right, we only made it part way up and had to park and walk the rest the way up.

I can say that this year I am more used to the snow and the cold.  I enjoyed the soft powder-like snow beneath my feet as I walked in it.  I enjoyed the quiet and beauty it brings.  Now ice, well, I am not a big fan of ice as it brings too much danger for my taste.  Slipping and sliding about is not my cup of tea.  Here below are pictures of Daisy kitty's first snow.

Brandon took this picture of Daisy on the deck in the morning when the snow first started actually blanketing.

Here Daisy decided to taste the snow. 

This was taken in the afternoon when the snow was deeper.  Daisy watches the flakes coming down.

Celestial Seasons Tour

Well, today we took a family day trip up to Boulder to take the tea tour at Celestial Seasons.  The moment I arrived I was excited.  The plant is in a beautiful location and as we walked up to the front of the building we could smell the wonderful aroma of herbs & spices.  We signed up to take the tour and for tickets they give each person a sample packet of tea.  The tours run every 15 minutes and each tour group is given a different pack of tea.  Our tour group got packets of Sleepy Time tea.  We were also given a small cup with which to sample different teas they had set out in the lobby.  I was in heaven!

Here I am with my "tea" ticket and my cup to sample tea.

On the tour we saw huge bins full of herbs, spices and teas.  All of those bins last at most 4 months, after that they are refilled.  We got to go in the tea room and learned about black tea, green tea & white tea.  Green tea has the least amount of caffeine, black tea has the most and white tea is in the middle.  Green tea has the least because the leaves are steamed.  Black tea has the most caffeine because the leaves are dried.  Then we went on to the "mint room".  As soon as our tour guide opened the door we were all hit with the aroma of mint.  It was so strong that it cleared our sinuses and made our eyes burn.  It was fun though.  After our tour we then went and had lunch at the Celestial Seasons Cafe.  The food was reasonably priced and very tasty.

The walls of the cafe are painted with artwork from their boxes of tea.

Here I am outside the Tea Shop.  There were so many pretty things and every kind of tea.  I picked my favorite Mandarin Orange Spice and trying a new one Sweet Apple Chamomile.